Ray woke up to the blaring of an alarm, disoriented and confused. As he tried to get his bearings, he felt a sharp prick on his neck, followed by a sudden rush of energy. Instantly, he was alert and fully awake.
“5 minutes till Drop,” a metallic voice announced.
Ray looked around and realized he was inside some kind of metal cocoon, attached to a track above. He was wearing a sleek suit of armor and could see various screens and a window in front of him. Outside, he could see rows of pods, presumably with other soldiers.
As his pod jerked to a stop, Ray heard a hissing sound and the wall in front of him expanded. The voice announced, “3 minutes till Drop.”
A screen in front of him flickered to life, showing a helmeted soldier with the name and rank of "‘1st Lieutenant Stake." Ray knew this was it - the tutorial has started.
“All right, listen up,” the voice boomed through Ray's helmet speakers, causing him to flinch. "We are approaching FOW Intrepid. This planet will enter its vulnerability period in 6 hours. We will be dropping directly into Control Point C. The situation will be extremely hot. The goddam navy was supposed to soften up the defense, but the only thing they accomplished was to create a bunch of space junk and kill a quarter of our division."
The speaker paused for a moment, allowing his words to sink in. "I have been informed that a full 12% of this Company are newbies on their tutorial, one for every squad. This is no game, ladies and gentlemen. You are here to prove yourselves, but we are here because lives are at stake. I knew something was up when I was given the pleasure of commanding a full 100-man company. But that doesn't matter now. What matters is that we get the job done. We're going to secure that artifact, and we're going to do it together.
Newbies, listen to your squad leaders and I hope you payed attention to prep school because if you fuck up my operation I will personally come and send a bullet through your skull after the tutorial.”
“Two minutes till drop. Get ready,” Private Stake’s voice boomed through the intercom.
Ray felt a knot form in his stomach as the seriousness of the situation set in. He had played his fair share of video games, but this was nothing like that. There was no second chance. He took a deep breath and checked his gear one last time, making sure everything was secured and in place.
Ray suddenly somehow knew that his badge just got updated with a new mission. [Tutorial] - Retrieve the Alien Artifact.
A second screen flickers and ‘Staff Sergeant Iago’ appears, in a similar battle dress.
“Hey Ray” he calls
“Hunh” Ray replied
“Yes you, now what grade of prep school did you go to? How many hours of ground combat sim did you do?”
“What?” Ray asked, “I don’t know what you mean?”
“You don’t know what I mean?” Iago angrily roared “Are you one of those rejects that only has compulsory? You know what? I’m gonna check”
“Airlock sealed. All drop pods prepare to embark” the voice plays one last time
Below Ray’s pod, massive metal doors groaned open, revealing the planet stretched out beneath him like a colossal, living canvas. The swirling clouds parted, giving way to a vast expanse of green and blue, marred by the jagged scars of war. The planet loomed large and imposing, its surface dotted with explosions and smoke trails, a battlefield waiting to swallow them whole. The sheer scale of it took Ray’s breath away, as if the world itself was pulling him down, ready to meet him in the chaos below.
A final thud echoed through the hull, and the drop pods began to fire from the belly of the ship. At first, they fell slowly, drifting downward with a sense of calm, but soon the descent accelerated. The pods became streaks of metal hurtling toward the planet below, gaining speed until they blurred into a cascade of fire and steel.
Ray pressed his face to the window, watching as dozens of pods shot out beneath them, each trailing a fiery wake. Beyond his ship, more vessels filled the sky, their silhouettes dark against the glow of re-entry as they released wave after wave of pods. The horizon was alive with light—thousands of drops, racing toward the surface like a meteor shower, every one carrying soldiers ready for battle.
Iago’s helmed head flicks back “A greenie!” he yells in a mix of anger and indignation. “How the hell are there still greenies in the Galaxy?”
Various voices yell out “Wtf” and “A greenie”
Iago continued “It's been goddam decades since I’ve seen a Greenie.”
“What's a greeny?” Ray asked
Iago yells “It means your planet is new, you guys have only been in the game for a couple of years.”
“Days” Ray corrected “Been two weeks”
“Days?” Iago yelleds in anger. The screen shows him bashing his helmed head around in his drop pod.
Ray’s drop pod rotated back, so his viewport is facing the ship. He’s far away from the spaceship he launched from.
“Goddam, fuck, if I didn’t know there would be a mentor bonus I would have killed you right here. Okay what do you know Greenie? Do you know what a Rifle is?”
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Ray replied “Yep we have those”
Iago sounded a little less exasperated. “Okay point your rifle at bad guys. If your HUD… Helmet shows em as green, press the trigger button, if it's red don’t shoot.”
“Uhh” Ray interjected “Can I have it the other way? Red for enemies?”
Iago sounded amused “Linda, humor him”.
A female voice replied back “On it”.
Iago replied back, “Okay so sounds like your greenie planet has ground combat sims?”
“Yeah uhh sims sure”
Iago said, “Okay its just like the sims, but if you die, thats your final chance… fuck”
Everyone watched as the ship they came from got hit with a super fast slug, exploding into pieces.
‘1st Lieutenant Stake’ reappeared on the screen “Who the fuck puts orbital defenses on a forward operating world. All Platoons begin evasive maneuvers”
Ray was slammed sideways in his harness as the pod jolted violently. Outside, the other pods around him began peeling apart like the skin of an orange, debris and fragments flung into the chaos. The friction of reentry had turned everything into a glowing, red-hot inferno.
Suddenly, explosions ripped through the formation. The once tight cluster of pods was now scattered, the blasts sending massive shockwaves through the air. Ray watched in horror as shrapnel spun wildly, tearing through the sky like deadly missiles. His own pod began to peel away, the protective shell shedding as his ride grew rougher, louder, and searingly hot.
Ray's heart pounded, his breaths coming in short, panicked bursts at the thought of being vaporized in mid-air. Just as the panic peaked, another sharp prick hit his neck—a cold surge of liquid ice spreading through his veins, calming his racing mind as the drop continued.
“Calm down greenie” Iago instructs “You’re a greenie, you’re protected by the game… at least till you get your boots on the ground. There is no way you will die here”
It felt like an eternity to Ray, though he knew it had only been a minute or two. His skin kept getting pricked, more fluids pumping into him with each jab. A strange fog started to settle over his mind, and he realized he was feeling… drunk? “Must be the drugs kicking in,” he thought, his nerves gradually dulling as the haze deepened.
Thinking of all the webnovels he before, Ray calls out “Status!”
And just as he thought a screen pops up.
Handle: [ER]Wanderer
Titles: None
Traits: War – Rank: Racial, Lvl 0
Status- Ephadrenaline (Temporary), Amphetochol (Temporary), Basic Green Tutorial (Temporary)
Deck-
Federation Standard Combat Battlesuit (Grade F)
Federation A56 Laser Assault Rifle (Grade F)
Deck Capacity - 2/10
Ray relaxed as the flak and pods around him cooled, the fiery glow fading. The violent shaking and deafening roar of reentry began to ease. His pod tilted, and through the window, he caught a glimpse of the city below. Once a thriving metropolis, it had been reduced to a war-ravaged wasteland. Towering skyscrapers were now crumbling husks, twisted metal and shattered glass littering the streets. Columns of smoke rose from several points, marking fresh scars from recent battles. In the distance, flashes of light and the staccato of gunfire echoed up to meet him.
In the heart of the ruined financial district, a quest marker blinked to life on Ray's HUD, outlining the location of the alien artifact. It pulsed with a menacing red glow, indicating heavy enemy presence. Two optional markers flickered on: one for neutralizing an alien strongpoint in the residential district, another for securing the steelworks facility.
Ray hurtled headfirst into the raging storm of orbital defense fire. Beams and flak ripped through the sky like violent gusts, especially concentrated around the financial district. Gun emplacements dotted the ground below, their firepower sweeping the battlefield like waves crashing against a ship. Pods flew alongside him in their thousands, some exploding mid-air as they were struck.
His formation was just a small part of a much larger invasion force, a steel wave crashing toward the city. Ray could see other spaceships in orbit, still releasing even more pods as they converged onto the city. The cacophony of gunfire, flak, and explosions filled his ears, yet amid the chaos, there was a strange sense of reassurance. The scale of the operation was overwhelming—an army descending like a flood. They weren’t alone. There was a chance, however slim, to survive the mission in the midst of this relentless destruction.
Lt State appeared yet again.
"Listen up, soldiers. We are about to land in the residential district. Our immediate objective is to neutralize the alien strongpoint. Our ultimate goal is to retrieve the alien artifact in the financial district. But let me be clear, this is not going to be a walk in the park. I have been informed that elite companies from the 5th army have already been lost here. Be on the lookout for any cards from the dead, especially those with E rank. Command has told us that at least 10 are missing, and we can't let them fall into enemy hands.
We will have to pass through several districts to get to the alien artifact, and each one will present its own challenges. Stay sharp, stay focused, and above all, stay alive. Are there any questions?"
The map updated with the following districts:
1. Residential district (Projected Landing area)
2. Old factory district
3. Industrial steelworks facility
4. Financial district (Objective)
A projection appeared showing Newbie DeltaN5 asking
"How does the distribution of found E ranked cards work?"
Lt stake laughed "As always, Iron Wolves rules, finders keepers"
Ray’s pod streaked across the landscape at breakneck speed, faster than anything he'd ever experienced. For a moment, it felt like they’d overshoot the landing zone, but then the pods dropped sharply, losing their remaining orbital velocity to drag.
Stark’s voice cut through the chaos, barking orders. “Hard landings to minimize flak! We’ve lost 16% of the division!”
Ray gripped his harness, bracing for impact, when the pod jerked violently. Parachutes deployed from every pod, yanking them to a sudden deceleration before quickly releasing. The flak around them continued to rain destruction below.
Another sharp jolt hit as more parachutes deployed, and then the engines roared to life, kicking in just in time to slow their descent. Hurtling towards the ground, Ray’s pod aimed for a street and slammed down with a heavy “thunk,” tumbling before finally coming to a stop.
To his surprise, the pod remained upright. The front hatch blasted open, his harness released, and a rifle was jammed into his hands, ready for the fight.
"It's showtime," Ray smirks.